Patrick’s Grille is one of the many restaurants you will find in Michigan City, but the fine dining experience is much different than what you’ll find anywhere else. After a year of hard work, the restaurant will be celebrating all their success with the 1 year anniversary on August 3rd.
The restaurant can be found at 4125 S. Franklin Street, about a mile north of I-94. After entering Patrick’s, guests are transported to a surprising quiet and cool, fine dining setting. Patrick’s is perfect place for a relaxing lunch after a day out in this summer’s heat, a dinner with friends or even a romantic night out.
The restaurant’s style is a very obvious reflection the owner, Patrick Wilkins’ love for traveling and fine dining. Across the midnight blue walls, guests can find beautiful canvas prints of city skylines from across the country. The back wall of the dining room has a stunning city scape across the wall with the windows of the buildings appearing to light up, offering a feeling of dining out at night in the shadows of a city.
Take a seat at one of their elegant table settings in the dining room for a dinner out or take a seat at the bar to be transported to a high class city lounge for your drink.
Julie Gill, the restaurant’s General Manager, said that one of the hardest parts of their first year open was getting their staff together and blending different personalities and styles.
The Executive Chef of Patrick’s, Chef Rick Bruggeman attributes the success to the staff. “I’m really lucky. I have a really good kitchen staff.” Chef Rick said. He has surrounded himself with people who understand his style and how he likes things to run, including those he used to work with at other establishments and some new staff who fit in well.
Many of the other employees also came from several places including Wilkins’ previously owned establishment or from a country club in the area where Wilkins, Bruggeman and Gill met.
“What we try to do is recreate what we know from the country club and that’s making everyone feel welcome when they’re here,” said Gill. “Knowing when when they walk through the door, what they like, how they like it, where they like to sit. Being recognized when they arrive. And that’s what we’re working toward.”
The restaurant took a lot of hard work and preparation in the months before they opened last year, especially the menu. Wilkins and the Executive Chef, Rick Bruggeman worked together in the kitchen for 3-4 months before opening, trying out new dishes and building the menu.
“I know what Michigan City People eat and what they like,” said Bruggeman, “I’ve made my mistakes and tried to put these crazy things on the menu and they just don’t work.”
Bruggeman went to culinary school in Chicago and has over 40 years of restaurant experience and 26 years in country club experience, most of which has been right here in Michigan City.
The cuisine, according to Bruggeman is “classic with a new twist” he likes to keep it simple “We do good cooking, good flavors, not over the top stuff.”
Bruggeman says that Wilkins focuses on high quality food. “We pay a little bit more, we could go the cheaper route, but our food is the tops. We buy the best scallops, the best beef, we use real lake perch.”
“That’s one thing Patrick said. You don’t cut corners on quality.” said Bruggeman.
Gill comes to Patrick’s with 16 years of experience in country club management and hospitality, three of which she worked alongside Bruggeman. She also brings experience in sales, catering and event planning in the corporate market.
Gill says that one of the biggest things that helped Patrick’s succeed was Bruggeman. “The experience he brings in the culinary is just phenomenal.” She also notes that her having a strong background in customer service has helped her immensely in the past year.
The key to Patrick’s success, according to Gill, not only comes from her experience but from the efforts of the entire staff together. From the Assistant Manager Amanda who handles the front house and the servers, to Bruggeman who runs the kitchen, and everyone in between.
